ST. PAULS — For the first four minutes of Tuesday’s Red Springs-St. Pauls boys basketball game, the Red Devils looked like they’d come to play, as they held an early lead midway through the opening quarter.

From that point, however, it seemed St. Pauls could do little wrong and Red Springs could do little right — and the rout was on.

The Bulldogs took the lead and quickly pulled away from the Red Devils to the tune of a 74-30 win in the in-county rivalry game.

From that point in the first period where Red Springs led 12-8, St. Pauls went on a 23-1 run to take a 31-13 lead early in the second. Things didn’t get much better from there for the Red Devils, who scored four points in the second quarter and by halftime trailed 43-17.

“I just think that we’ve been through the war, been through the battle,” St. Pauls coach Corey Thompson said. “We’ve had some points this season that we didn’t do a good job of executing, and I really challenged them at the half that, this whole year we haven’t been able to play with a lead and build on it, and they came out and responded.”

“They were focused and locked in and ready to play, and we just weren’t tonight,” Red Springs coach Glenn Patterson said. “Offensively, we couldn’t get anything going; no jumpshots. It’s a rivalry game, and we just didn’t come to play. It was just one of those nights — we were walking zombies.”

Over the second half, St. Pauls (11-4, 6-2 Three Rivers Conference) continued to extend their lead, holding a 19-9 advantage in the third quarter to take a 62-26 lead, then passing the 40-point threshold for a running clock midway through the fourth, on their way to the 44-point final margin.

Jayvian Tatum led St. Pauls with 20 points, including 10 in a row in a 2-minute stretch straddling the first and second quarters during the Bulldogs’ big run. In addition to seven field goals, six of his points came at the free-throw line, part of a recent trend of improved form for the Bulldogs’ sophomore guard.

“I guess I’ve improved a lot,” Tatum said. “I guess I’ve kept my head right.”

“He’s playing well,” Thompson said. “I always get on Jeyvian about being efficient, and tonight he was efficient and got to the free-throw line, he didn’t just rely on his outside shot. He drove to the basket and he was able to capitalize on his free throws, and he can do that at any given time.”

The Bulldogs’ win, their fourth straight in the series, comes after winning a far closer game against Red Springs less than a month ago, a 56-51 contest Dec. 19 in the first round of the Robeson County Shootout. Thompson said that the Bulldogs’ domination in the second meeting between the teams shows his team’s growth over the last four weeks.

“We’ve grown as a team,” Thompson said. “We just try to take a one-day approach to practice and get ready for our games, not overlooking anyone. I think us taking our lumps early in the season really got our guys attention, and we know that we really have to play together and play team ball to have a chance to win.”

Red Springs (5-8, 4-4 TRC) dropped its fourth straight conference game after starting league play with four straight wins.

“Chemistry is lost right now; we’re trying to find it,” Patterson said. “We’ve got to take every game as a life lesson, and tonight we came out here and didn’t have a bone in the fight.”

Joshua Henderson scored 13 points for St. Pauls, all in the second half. William Ford had 12 points, with three thunderous dunks, and Caleb Henderson and Waltay Jackson each scored eight.

Jordan Ferguson scored eight points to lead Red Springs and Corell Love had six.

St. Pauls is at East Columbus Friday and Red Springs hosts South Columbus.

Lady Bulldogs pull away in third

The St. Pauls girls basketball team didn’t play its best first half against Red Springs on Tuesday. While the Bulldogs held a 23-9 lead at halftime, they played a relatively sloppy first two quarters.

But the Bulldogs were far more dominant in the third, holding a 27-2 advantage in the period, allowing them to cruise in the fourth to a 60-13 win.

“I think the girls were trying to play too perfect in the first half,” St. Pauls coach Mike Moses said. “And we can’t forget that no matter what the record is, this rivalry is like Duke and Carolina. When Red Springs comes in this building, they’re going to come to play, and our girls are the same way; I think they were just trying too hard to be perfect, and not just playing basketball. We were overthinking, turning the ball over.

“Second half, we were more calm, and we played a better second half.”

St. Pauls (13-0, 8-0 TRC) scored 13 points over the first 85 seconds of the third quarter, turning their 14-point halftime lead into a 36-9 lead, and eventually stretched the run to 20-0 — 24-0 counting the last two-plus minutes of the second quarter — before Red Springs scored again.

Red Springs (1-12, 1-7 TRC) was held to two points in both the third and fourth quarters.

One key to the St. Pauls run was T.J. Eichelberger, who hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter and five in the game as part of her 20-point, six-steal performance.

“Today was just retro T.J., because she can do that,” Moses said. “T.J. is such a great team player that she takes the back seat, and tonight was a night that she needed to step up because we couldn’t get going. She’s been working, because she’s been upset about how she’s been shooting.”

Jakieya Thompson scored 10 points with seven assists and seven steals for the Bulldogs. Taliya Council scored nine points with eight rebounds, Iyania Evans had eight points with 14 rebounds and Mackenzie Ransom also scored eight points.

Omaryah McMillian and Anaja McArthur each scored four points to lead Red Springs.

After the teams exchanged opening baskets, St. Pauls used a 9-0 run to build an 11-2 lead midway through the opening quarter. Red Springs used a pair of Anaja McArthur baskets over the balance of the period to pull to within 13-6 going to the second quarter.

The Bulldogs outscored the Red Devils 10-3 in the second, with Red Springs held to one field goal, and St. Pauls led 23-9 at halftime.

Chris Stiles | The Robesonian St. Pauls’ Jakieya Thompson, 5, goes up for a layup against Red Springs on Tuesday in St. Pauls.
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_WEB-IMG_6378.jpgChris Stiles | The Robesonian St. Pauls’ Jakieya Thompson, 5, goes up for a layup against Red Springs on Tuesday in St. Pauls.

Chris Stiles | The Robesonian St. Pauls’ William Ford, 25, drives past Red Springs’ Chandler McMillan, 4, for a dunk during Tuesday’s game in St. Pauls.
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_FRONT-IMG_6421.jpgChris Stiles | The Robesonian St. Pauls’ William Ford, 25, drives past Red Springs’ Chandler McMillan, 4, for a dunk during Tuesday’s game in St. Pauls.
St. Pauls sweeps Red Springs in pair of blowouts

Chris Stiles

Staff Writer

Chris Stiles can be reached at 910-816-1989 or by email at [email protected]. You can follow him on Twitter at @StilesOnSports.